Susannah Strydom
Fractional Creative & Brand Strategy, Stardom Consulting
“Design is not the person who makes things pretty. We understand how to problem solve visually.”
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Former P&G executive turned fractional creative and brand strategy leader. Susannah grew up in apartheid-era South Africa — an experience that baked deep empathy into her DNA. She's lived and worked across three continents (South Africa, Singapore, US) and brings elite-level brand thinking to mid-market companies that have never had it. Her defining belief: design is not making things pretty — it's visual problem-solving through a strategic lens. She left corporate to prove the fractional model can work at the highest level.
In Their Words
“People have thought design is the person who makes things pretty, and that is not design. We understand how to problem solve visually, and that is through a strategic lens, that is through our innate creativity.”
— Susannah Strydom
“I know that we only understand life looking backwards, so that's how I approach it.”
— Susannah Strydom
“I try not to think of, oh, I'm in this terrible space. I rather try to think about what can I get from it, how can I improve, what is the lesson here.”
— Susannah Strydom
“I grew up in apartheid South Africa. So really having a strong empathy for humans is very much part of my DNA.”
— Susannah Strydom
“Fractional leaders don't come in with the baggage. So you can say something that someone ordinarily might not feel comfortable saying at the boardroom. But I think that is an expectation when you're coming in with that leadership — to say how you really see things.”
— Susannah Strydom
“When I retired from P&G, it was really a very refreshing outlook. I feel like I'm a kid in a candy store — really looking at the world of AI, not just understanding the tools, but understanding the actual business and landscape of AI. If people of our executive level can combine that knowledge with the tools that are developing in AI, you're going to be an incredible asset to any company.”
— Susannah Strydom
Watch & Listen
“I think fractional leadership is rising because the global geopolitical state and the economy are making things smaller.”
-- Susannah Strydom
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